Aquaporins as targets for stress tolerance in plants: genomic complexity and perspectives

Authors: WONKEUN JOHN PARK, BENJAMIN TODD CAMPBELL

Abstract: As a multigene family, plant aquaporins function not only in water transport but also in transport of small elements that are important for vegetative and reproductive growth of plants. Increasing evidence exhibits the relevance of aquaporins to tolerance against abiotic and biotic stresses such as drought, nutrient deficiency, and herbivore attack. With the accumulation of crop genome sequencing, it is suggested that several aquaporin genes are conserved in subchromosomal locations as tandem duplicated members. In this review, we will discuss the compelling nature of aquaporins as multifunctional transport channels that are often encoded in clustered regions of genomes and relevant to stress resistance in plants.

Keywords: Aquaporin, boron, drought, silicon, stress, tandem duplication, water

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